The Creed

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The Creed

• What Catholics Believe

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Opening Prayer Nicene Creed

• We believe in one God,the Father, the
  Almighty,maker of heaven and earth,of all that
  is, seen and unseen.
• We believe in one Lord, Jesus
• Christ,the only son of God,eternally begotten
  of the Father,God from God, Light from
  Light,true God from true God,begotten, not
  made,of one being with the Father.Through him
  all things were made.For us and for our
  salvationhe came down from heavenby the power
  of the Holy Spirithe became incarnate from the
• Virgin Mary,and was made man.
• For our sake he was crucified
• under Pontius Pilate
• he suffered death and was buried.
• On the third day he rose again

in accordance with the Scriptureshe ascended
into heavenand is seated at the right hand of
the Father.He will come again in gloryto judge
the living and the dead,and his kingdom will
have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the
Lord, the giver of life,who proceeds from the
Father and the Son.With the Father and the
Sonhe is worshipped and glorified.He has spoken
through the Prophets.We believe in one holy,
catholic and apostolic Church.We acknowledge
one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.We
look for the resurrection of the dead,and the
life of the world to come. AMEN.
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What is a creed?

• In the first centuries after the death of
  Christ, Christians wondered how God worked.

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• People had questions that could not be answered
  anywhere in the New Testament (which is the most
  reliable record of Jesus teachings that we
  have).
• People needed answers to such questions as, How
  can on God be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? How
  can Jesus be both divine AND human?

?

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• Many great theological debates and,
  unfortunately, quite a few religious wars began
  because of their questions about the nature of
  God.

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• The Apostles Creed had already been written, but
  it didnt give answers to ALL of the questions
  that people were asking.
• SO in the year 325, the bishops gathered at a
  council held in the city of Nicaea to solve the
  problem. They adopted the Nicene Creed as the
  true beliefs of our Church.

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• The word creed
• comes from the Latin word
• credo which means
• I BELIEVE
• A creed is a statement of beliefs.

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• What do we mean

when we say the Nicene Creed during Mass each
week?
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• We believe
• Kids know that the oven is hot because they get
  burned when they touch it.
• Students know that water is made of hydrogen and
  oxygen because of science experiments.

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• We can learn a lot of important things from our
  senses and from science, but we learn the MOST
  important things that we know through our faith.

For example, we cant prove that we are loved,
but our lives are totally different if we believe
that someone loves us.
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It is the same way with God. We cannot fit God
under a microscope in science class.

• Just like being loved, our proof that God exists
  is in our heart. Its something that we just
  know.

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• In one God, the Father,
• the Almighty
• People dont like things that they dont
  understand, so they try to tie God down to
  something that makes sense to them.

A lot of people imagine that God is like their
parents. If their parents are angry a lot, they
imagine that God is angry. If their parents are
loving, they imagine that God is loving.
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This is why we have so many conflicting images
of God. We can never put into words or pictures
exactly who God is.
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• We believe in one
• Lord, Jesus Christ,
• the only Son of God
• Jesus told us If you really knew me, you would
  know my Father as well. From now on, you do know
  him and have seen him. John 147

When we wonder what God is like, we can look to
Jesus because he actually shows us God.
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• Begotten, not made, one in Being with the
  Father...
• This is where the Creed becomes a little
  complicated
• The word begotten means that the Father and the
  Son are of the same nature.

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• Whats the difference between
• beget and make?
• When a couple begets a child, it means that their
  baby is made of the same nature as its parents.
  This is what you learn about in science you have
  the same genes as your parents youre made of
  the same stuff.
• VS.
• If you make a snowman, he is made out of
  something different in nature than you are snow!

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• Saying the Son is begotten by the Father shows
  that we believe that Jesus (the Son) is equal to
  His Father

True God from true God.
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• For us men and our salvation he came down from
  heaven...

• The only way that God could really communicate
  with humans was to
• become human himself.
• Think about it. If you really had to talk to
  birds, wouldnt it work best for you to become a
  bird?

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Crossword Puzzle

• At this point, please complete the crossword
  puzzle on your table.

Hint use the first half of the Creed to find
the answers!
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• By the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of
  the Virgin Mary...

The angel Gabriel told Mary that she would have a
son (Luke 130-38).
We know that Jesus is truly human because he was
formed in Marys womb. He was born a little
baby, just like me and you, so he had a human
body and human soul.
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• BUT Jesus isnt JUST human.
• (I know, confusing.)
• Jesus is also truly God because he has a divine
  nature.
• This is a little tricky.
• Jesus is not half God and half Man hes 100 God
  and 100 Man.
• His Mom is Mary and his Dad is God.
• Pretty cool, huh?

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• And became man...
• Jesus is truly God.
• He is also fully human.

Jesus did not just go through the motions as a
human being. The Bible tells us Jesus had to
grow and learn just as we do. He got hungry, he
got tired, and he felt pain.
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• For our sake he was crucified under Pontius
  Pilate...

Gods love is the only power that can overcome
sin. Jesus loves us and wants us to be united
with him so that we can turn away from all of the
bad stuff and rise to a new life.
Remember last month how we talked about the gifts
of the Holy Spirit? This is one of the ways that
Jesus tries to help us to overcome sin.
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• On the third day he rose again...
• If Christ has not been raised, your faith is
  futile and you are still in your sins.
• (1 Corinthians 1517)

The resurrection is the most important part of
our faith. If Jesus wasnt raised from the dead,
then he would be just like anyone else. Its not
always easy to believe because there are lots of
questions that we cant answer, but thats why
they call it the MYSTERY of FAITH.
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• He ascended into heaven and is seated at the
  right hand of the Father...
• The Ascension (when Jesus was raised from the
  dead) didnt mean that Jesus wasnt with the
  disciples anymore. In the same way, it doesnt
  mean that Jesus isnt with us today.
• Remember last month when we learned about the
  Holy Spirit? Jesus sent the Holy Spirit so that
  He can still be with us today.
• When we say Jesus is at Gods right hand, we mean
  that Jesus is everywhere just like God is.

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• He will come again in glory to judge the living
  and the dead...
• Everybody talks about the end of the world.
• How many movies have been made about it?
• Armageddon, Terminator, The Day after Tomorrow
  Im sure you can think of more.

We all wonder about it, but we really dont have
any idea what it will be like.
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What we do know is that Jesus will be there and
that we should always be ready to meet Him. He
told us Keep watch, because you do not know on
what day your Lord will come. (Matthew 2444)
Would we act differently if we thought Jesus was
coming tomorrow..?
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• His kingdom will have no end...

The kingdom of Christ is a family of love that
exists beyond the limits of time on earth.
How is that possible?? Well The Church doesnt
just consist of believers on earth, but also the
saints in heaven and all believers who have died.
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• We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the
  Giver of Life...
• The Holy Spirit is the reason we are alive and
  the cause of everything good in the world.
• When we see good, truth, beauty,
• and honor in ourselves, in others,
• and in the world, THIS is the
• work of the Holy Spirit.

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• We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic
  Church.
• When we say that the Church is one, this
  doesnt mean that other churches dont have a
  relationship with Christ. We mean that Christ
  wants all of his followers to be united in him.

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Holy
When we say that the Church is holy, we dont

• mean that the Church (or its members!) are
  sinless.
• It DOES mean that we were baptized so we share in
  the holiness of God and we are called to reject
  sin.
• Again, we are given the gifts of the Holy Spirit
  to help us out.

None of us are perfect.
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catholic
When you look up catholic (with a

• lowercase c) in the dictionary, this is what
  you find
• universal in extent involving all of interest
  to all.
• pertaining to the whole Christian body or church.
• When we refer to the catholic Church in the
  Nicene Creed, we are talking about the whole
  (universal) Christian Church throughout the
  world.
• Dont believe me??
• Many other Christian Churches say the Nicene
  Creed as well (not just Catholics)!

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• Apostolic This means that the Church traces its
  authority and teachings back to Jesus and his
  Apostles.
• Apostle also means one who is sent, so
  Apostolic also means that the whole Church is
  sent to preach the gospel to the world.

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4 Marks of the Church

• We call One, holy, catholic and apostolic
  the 4 marks of the Church.
• You might say that these words define the Church.
• At this point, please stop and complete the 4
  Marks of the Church worksheet

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• We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness
  of sins.

For those baptized as infants, baptism gets rid
of Original Sin (that we were born with
remember Adam Eve??) and equips us to fight
sin for the rest of our lives.
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• We look for the resurrection of the dead
• Unfortunately, we all know that our bodies will
  wear out because of age, illness, or accident.
• However, this is where Christianity is awesome!
• We believe that even though our human lives will
  end, we will be just beginning our spiritual
  lives with Jesus.
• (And I heard that Heaven
• is going to be great.)

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• And the life of the world to come.
• Jesus tells us for sure that eternal life exists,
  but He doesnt give us many clues about what it
  will be like.
• For now its up to our imaginations!!

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• Amen.
• This word means yes or I believe.
• We say yes to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
  
• yes to the goodness of life in the Church
  today
• and yes to the promise of eternal life in the
  world to come.
• AMEN I BELIELVE!

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• If you believe these statements, you are a
  Catholic Christian.
• Congratulations!!

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Break-Out Groups!
Work together with your group to create your own
board game about the Creed. Use one of the
templates that we provided, or create your own
(simple!) board.
Bring the copy of the Creed that is on your table
it will be a great cheat sheet for you!
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Closing Prayer
Lord, we pray for the future of our family and
the future of your Church. With the Holy Spirit
as our guide, we hope to be faithful to you and
to our beliefs as we express them in the Creed.
Amen.